Jean Foxhall Clement Carter

Betty Jean Foxhall Clement Carter (Jean), who overcame tragedy to become the steady, loving light for her family and friends, died on Saturday, January 9, 2021. She was 81 years old. The cause of death was Alzheimer’s Dementia.

The great granddaughter of Texas pioneers, Jean grew up happy and secure in Memphis, Texas, surrounded by friends and her large, adoring family, including her loving parents, brother, two younger sisters and a passel of aunts, uncles and cousins. Jean was the high school valedictorian and yearbook editor. In Memphis, Jean began her lifelong devotion to the Christian faith. Upon her graduation, she attended Southern Methodist University, majoring in English and graduating in 1961. At SMU, Jean was named to the Mortar Board Honor Society; was an active member of Kappa Alpha Theta; and served again as an editor, this time of the Rotunda Yearbook. Smart, elegant and beautiful, Jean never lacked admirers. Her senior year, she fell in love with Gregory Charles Clement, Jr., a West Point graduate who was in Ranger training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Greg and Jean married in 1962, and had two children, Kathleen Jo and John Gregory. Greg was killed in action in Viet Nam Feb. 23, 1967 in a heroic rescue of RVN soldiers under machine gun fire. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart.

Jean moved with her young children to Austin, where she pursued a Masters degree in American Studies. It was there she met and fell in love with James Byars Carter, MD, whom she married in 1970. They combined their families and created a warm and joyful home, a haven for family and friends. Jean was devoted to her Austin community, volunteering with schools, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Assistance League, Junior Helping Hand and Good Shepherd Episcopal Church (where she felt especially uplifted by serving on the Altar Guild). Jean, however, was as much about the life of the mind as she was the life in her community. She voraciously read and enjoyed courses at church and the Seminary of the Southwest. She became a widow a second time when Jim died in 1992.

In her second widowhood, Jean reconnected with an old friend, Judge Donald Deane Koons. They married in 1999 and Jean resettled with him in Dallas. She threw herself into volunteering with the Texas Women’s Museum and St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church (again finding spiritual sustenance in the Altar Guild). Jean and Don enjoyed world travel and they also provided a lovely and welcoming home to their friends and their families.

Jean poured her time and her creativity into her four children — drawing out each one’s strengths, blanketing them all with love. Jean delighted in her grandchildren, finding each child’s spark by cultivating shared interests. Jean was never judgmental. She celebrated every grandchild’s unique talents and victories.

Jean’s charm and intelligence made it difficult to notice the initial damage wrought by Alzheimer’s. Following Don’s death in 2015, Jean moved to Midlothian, Virginia to be near her daughter. Ever devoted to service and learning, Jean volunteered as Patient #1 in an Alzheimer’s study at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. As Alzheimer’s destroyed Jean’s brain, she remained kind and loving.

Jean’s beloved parents, James Lesley and Betty Lucille Weatherly Foxhall; her brother and cherished friend, Lesley Neal; and her stepson, William Adam Carter also preceded her in death. Surviving Jean are her son, John Gregory Clement Carter and his wife Ann, of San Antonio, Texas, her daughter, Kathleen Jo Clement Carter Ryder and her husband, Bill of Midlothian, Virginia. Jean and Greg Clement have six grandchildren who survive her: Jeanne Ann Carter, Robert Clement Carter, Grace Elizabeth Arnot Carter, Emelia Weatherly Ryder, William Gregory Ryder and Camille Foxhall Ryder. Jean’s stepson, Gregory James Carter, his wife Kristen and their children Laura Ashley Carter and Gregory James Carter II also survive her, as does Adam Carter’s son, Darren James Carter.

Jean is also survived by her beloved sisters, Sara Jo Foxhall Sanders and Lynn Foxhall Badgwell, her brother-in-law, Jon Michael Badgwell and her sister-in-law, Susan Glass Foxhall.

Many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends treasure memories of their gracious and adoring Jean. Countless students, Scouts and vacation bible schoolers benefitted from Jean’s gentle tutelage and encouraging smile.

Jean will be interred with Greg Clement at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas. A private service will be held Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 1:30 pm (livestream via Porter Loring Mortuaries). Please celebrate Jean’s memory by sighing over wildflowers, diving into a good book or creating an imaginary world with a child. Gifts may be made in Jean’s memory to the Junior Helping Hand Home for Children in Austin, the Alzheimer’s Association or the charity of your choice.